Forum Discussion
Sporadic BSODs in Windows 11 Professional ?
Microsoft Windows 11 Professional (x64) Build 26100.3775 (24H2)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LT720 85.85 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory
Storage: Crucial T500 W/Heatsink 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital WD_Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16 GB Video Card
Case: Montech SKY TWO GX ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Case Fan: Phanteks PH-F120SK 50 CFM 120 mm Fan
2 Replies
Since first install of 24H2, I'm also getting random BSOD's with Windows 11 Pro on my Asus Vivobook 15. I'm wondering if it's connected to the Western Digital HMB problem.
I have a NvME WD PC SN560 which came installed with the laptop. Since 24H2 has been installed, nothing but random BSOD's several times a day. The laptop completely freezes, then a BSOD with "Critical Process Died 0xEF" appears for a second on screen. The laptop then automatically shuts down, restarts and boots immediately into the BIOS screen. The BIOS screen states that there is no SSD installed. Restarting the laptop from this boot screen, the laptop again boots up to the BIOS screen and states no SSD is installed. On holding down the on/ off button of the laptop when in the BIOS screen, the laptop will the shut down from the BIOS screen and reboot. The laptop then reboots, Windows 11 then loads normally. Once booted into Win11, it's only a question of time before a random BSOD appears again.
There is no Western Digital update for my SN560 to fix this problem, as there is for WD SN580 and SN770 SSD's. There is also no BIOS update available for my Asus Vivobook 15 x1505.
I've just tried the known registry hack below for this problem to see if it resolves the random BSOD issue.
Use the Windows Registry Editor (Temporary Workaround) If you cannot update the firmware right away, you can disable or limit HMB to prevent BSODs.
Open Registry Editor: Press the Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
Navigate to the key: Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Dev
ice.
Create the value:
Right-click in the right-hand pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the new value HMBAllocationPolicy.
Set the value data:
Double-click the new HMBAllocationPolicy value.
Set its Value data to 0 to disable HMB, or to 2 to limit HMB to 64MB.
Click OK & reboot.
If that does not fix the problem, I'll be forced to RMA the laptop. Luckily, my warranty lasts until 2 April 2027.
1. Check the error code immediately
Blue screen screen log Error code2. Check the log:
powershell
Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 10 | Where-Object {$_.LevelDisplayName -eq “Error”} | Format-List Message
2. Update the driver:Win + X → Device Manager → Check if the graphics card/chipset/memory controller has a yellow exclamation mark.
Right click → Update Driver
3. Run memory diagnostics:
Win + R → Type mdsched.exe → Select “Reboot and check now”.
4. Disable overclocking:
Reboot into BIOS/UEFI → Restore Default Settings
